Hello everyone who has survived the rains in Korea, the heat in America or whatever it’s doing wherever you are,
In his wisdom, the Marmot has asked me to be a guest-blogger on this site, seeing as how I don’t have a blog of my own (just a simple site). As I have just recently been seen here offering halfhearted defenses of Bruce Cumings and the 2000 Romanization System, stances sure to make a person wildly popular on a board like this, it seems like a great time to begin!
My posts will be fairly infrequent, mostly on Korean history and traditional culture — and their modern manifestations, relevant to Korean tourism and cultural development. In particular, Korea’s “sacred” mountains and sites of religious pilgrimage. Serious wonk-stuff, admittedly; probably not of much interest to a lot of you — just skip over in that case.
If anyone is curious about who i am, there’s a decent profile-article by Michael Breen, with photos by a Korean pro, in this month’s Morning Calm the in-flight magazine of Korean Airlines; its pages were scanned and posted here. Yup, another Chubby-White-Dude-in-Hanbok travesty… :-)
The reason for this particular post is to let you know that I’ll be leading an unusual walking-lecture-tour this coming Saturday, and any of you hangin’ in Seoul despite it being the peak of “vacation season” might be interested in coming along. The tour, for the Royal Asiatic Society, will be to the same place as featured in that article above — Inwang-san, the Shamanic Capital of Korea. Directly above downtown Seoul, we probably get to observe some ancient shamanic practices (real rituals happening as we walk around, not staged-shows or exhibits), and we will visit a few of the nation’s primary shamanic sites, and some of the semi-Buddhist temples there. The tour will probably also include Independence Gate and West-Gate Prison. I’ll do my best to explain what we see and answer questions…
Anyway, it’s from 10 to 4 the day after tomorrow — we meet at 10am at the sitting area in the south part of Dongnipmun Metro Station (Orange Line #3); it costs w10,000 (all for the RAS), buy your own lunch. If you’re interested, take a look at the RAS homepage http://www.raskb.com, click on Events Calendar, then on the bottom lines of Saturday July 22nd to see the info-page.
8 Comments
AN ENDORSEMENT (if it’s worth anything): David Mason’s book Spirit of the Mountains is a terrific read, something I sometimes pick up to give as gifts to clients (along with Mike Breen’s book The Koreans). Dave’s walking tour is highly recommended! He’s a character, for sure. My copy of Spirit of the Mountains is autographed by the author; we were at a party shortly after its publication and he just happened to have some of those books in the trunk of his car for sale at a “special price”. If the Royal Asiatic Society W10,000 fee all goes to the Society, consider buying a book from Dave Mason (if he still has some) while you’re on the tour and give the author some hard-earned cash instead of the faceless bookstore. But way to give us short notice, Dave! An announcement on Thursday afternoon for a Saturday tour!
Well, Brendon. how else can you tell someone’s been in Korea long enough to be an expert?! [I got a call today -- @ 6 AM -- from a professor at SNU asking me if I could give a four hour lecture on a topic that I haven't looked at in twenty years and that would require me to familiarize myself with about 300 pages of technical material. When I asked when it was scheduled, he said tomorrow evening! I guess that's why he thought it was OK to telephone when he did.] I told him I had another commitment on Saturday for which I had to prepare. Thanks for making an honest man outta me, David.
A topic you haven’t looked at in 20 years, eh? In my case that topic would be “push-ups”.
David, I am glad that the Marmot asked you to write here. I wish I could go Saturday, but I have to stick close to my wife, who is unwell, for a while.
I bought the book already. It is very nice indeed.
I wish I could go this time but I have a prior engagement and am chock full until after the 27th.
Thanks, Brendon, Nathan and Elgin. Sorry that you can’t make it; Nathan, i hope that your wife’s health improves. Brendon, i’m sure that your lawyering is excellent and also to be highly recommended — but i only pray that i continue to be fortunate enough to not have to find out for myself…
Yep, as Brendon noted i sell my own books, at 10% off the cover price and with signature — i do make a little more money that way than when the publisher sells through bookstores — and it’s a lot more personal, means much more to me. I’ve made several friends through it, and that’s the best result. My latest tome, Passage to Korea, is one of those coffee-table books with really beautiful photos of all aspects of the nation (by a French professional) interspersed with my essays on Korea in general — might be better for the general public & gifts to visitors than my very specialized semi-academic work on the Mountain-spirits…
Sorry about the late notice for this tour, but i have a kind of psychological problem in this season — hold off on announcing tours and private hiking trips to everyone because nervously watching the weather predictions to see if it will rain, and thus the gig would be canceled — the predictions frequently change and differ, so it’s hard to make up my mind that it’s really a “go” until just a couple of days before. Spring and Autumn trips to the mountains are sure a lot easier to schedule in advance with some confidence…
Welcome to the Marmot’s hole, David. (Posting, that is; of course, you appear to have been commenting for a while….)
I had no idea that Inwangsan was “the shamanic capital of Korea.” It’s a nice place to go for a walk anyhow…some great, alternative views of downtown Seoul, and the old city wall still intact…. If I were a millionaire, I’d hop on a plane just for that walking tour, but alas, I’m stuck here on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
The tour was a fine success, 10 people showed up
which is a great size… We covered all the bases
and everyone seemed real happy with what they saw
and learned. Nice naeng-myeon lunch. It didn’t
rain, and in fact cleared up pretty good by the
afternoon, was hot as hell by the time we finished
climbing around up there at 3pm. I was exhausted
from talking so much in the heat, was glad to slump
into an air-conditioned subway car to head on home!
Unfortunately we didn’t see any shamanism in live-action;
there just wasn’t any going on in the dozen shrines that
we passed by — first time that’s EVER been the case when
i have gone up there! — weird for a Saturday — must’ve
been an inauspicious day by the Lunar Calendar… Or just
too hot for the spirits! Too bad for my participants…
This tour will probably be repeated in the fall, in the
cooler weather. Other lecture-tours will be offered too
– notice posted here more in advance, i promise.